Blu Skies & Pearly Gates

Above: Blu's producer Exile flexes his skills on the MPC.

Below: Blu rocks over Exile's monstrous mainstream 2005 hit Pearly Gates, originally for Mobb Deep. Love this beat to death...

BLU - PEARLY GATES (PROD EXILE)

Ghosts of the Barbary Coast

Hell yes. Aes Rock is back with a vengeance lately. This time with a track for his boy Jeremy Fish's show out in San Francisco, which is inspired by the "history of hoodlums, harlots, and heroes of SF." The lyrics are supposed to mirror the subject of the show:

“A depiction of the post-goldrush slum that was S.F.’s Barbary Coast, and the violence, gangs, and prostitution that overran much of what is now Fisherman’s Wharf and North Beach.”

It's pretty clear that Aesop has returned to the lush beats and looser approach that made him an icon originally. SF here I come, I need a change too.

AESOP ROCK - THE GHOSTS OF THE BARBARY COAST

L'assassinat De Carala

For this cold and wet afternoon, some classic but rare Miles Davis off the soundtrack to the 1958 film Elevator to the Gallows, which premiered at MoMa's Jazz Score exhibition in September.

MILES DAVIS - L'ASSASSINAT DE CARALA

Courtesy of Jake The Snake.

Excuse Me, Mr West

If I was forced to do an auditory Rorschach Test for 808s and Heartbreak (in this case I would have to be FORCED, probably with waterboarding), I would immediately blurt out words like: sparse, hideous, gimmicky, poppy, and pretentious. Or, if given the option of a phrase, possibly: Artist in mid-life crisis; needs a Ferrari, not a new album.

Truth be told, I haven't been this hesitant to post a Yeezy track in a long time. And Im sitting on the entire album. Which is for the most part a bad sign, though in my heart I trust that Kanye knows something that I don't that Im just not getting yet.

KANYE SPEAKS ON 808s ON DEF JAM CONFERENCE CALL

Cop 808s in two weeks when it drops, and be prepared to either be really pissed, or really happy. Pick one. Either you are happy to hear Lil Wayne sing in autotune "You think you're shit don't stink, but you are Misses P.U.", or you are preparing a manifesto on hip-hop artists who lose themselves forever on the experimental break out album.

KANYE FT LIL WAYNE - TELL EVERYBODY YOU KNOW

KANYE FT JEEZY - AMAZING FT YOUNG JEEZY

Artist to Watch: Menahan Street Band

More from the best new soul band in town, the Menahan Street Band. If you recall, they were the cats originally sampled on Jay-Z's Roc Boys, so they carry some weight fresh out of the gate. Daptone Records is doing their thing REAL strong right now with these guys, The Budos Band, and Sharon Jones...reviving soul music with that old school New York sound one ear at a time. Above is a video from the recent Daptone Records show in Brooklyn at Southpaw (probably one of the better shows of the year), where Menahan absolutely killed it with Charles Bradley.

Take note that this album is getting the special slot to your right as the album of the week. Cop it.

MENAHAN STREET BAND - THE TRAITOR


MANAHAN STREET BAND - KARINA

Computer Love II

A few months ago we dropped Madlib's hip-hop take on Zapp & Roger's Computer Love, still one of Mad's best remixes yet. Now Ghostface gets gusto on it...if only all of Wu had taste like this in beats.

Streets named after me, Martin Luther Bling.

GHOSTFACE KILLAH - COMPUTER LOVE

Heartless

As previously reported, Kanye just had his listening party for 808s & Heartbreak, which is about to drop in November.

If you haven't heard the news yet: there will be hardly any rappity rap happening, there will be a ton of autotune, and, the real kicker, it was recorded in three weeks. We've already heard one single, and if you liked that one, chances are you will be feeling this as well. If you are on the other side of the fence, Kanye will still be dropping his scheduled prequel to Graduation in June, so you have a real album to look forward to.

Second single off 808s.

KANYE WEST - HEARTLESS

Dela (No Soul)

Dela is a relatively unknown producer from Paris, with most of his albums available only through Japanese import (however much sense that makes). Despite his lack of fame, his as-of-yet unreleased album Changes of Atmosphere features Talib Kweli, J-Live, J.Sands, Les Nubians, and Blu. How is that for a full cypher?

This is possibly my favorite Kweli song in years.

I'm having fun with rhyming,
You stuck with guns & diamonds.

DELA FT TALIB KWELI - LONG LIFE

Brooklyn's Got Soul

You might have noticed that posts this month are chopped in half. Part of that is due to things getting busy around September, but most of it is because hip-hop is in the shitter and I refuse to plug: 1) any of the new 80s throwback hipster nonsense 2) Cam'ron's return from hiding or 3) random videos from concerts with barely listenable audio (challah universal hip-hop blog fam).

But hold on now young world. It's a new dawn.

The Menahan Street Band, straight out of Bushwick Brooklyn, is saving September singlehandedly. A collaboration of musicians from Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, El Michels Affair, Antibalas, and the Budos Band, Menahan represents a handful of the most talented soul and funk musicians rolled into a perfect 1969 spliff.

You will recognize Made The Road By Walking, since it is sampled heavily on Jay-Z's Roc Boys (the No. 1 Billboard hit in 2007).

For more audio tune into their MySpace page which has five new tracks from the album. Also note the release party at Southpaw in Park Slope on October 17 which should be phenomenal.

MENAHAN STREET BAND - MADE THE ROAD BY WALKING

And one of the better tracks only available for stream:

You Love The Way I Roll

In the tradition of many who have come before (read: Qwel) Devin the Dude cooks up a new track debatably devoted to either weed and/or women. It's hard to tell when this kind of freaky beat combines with lines like "Hit that fatty I feel Im in heaven." I quit the greenery years ago but I could listen to this one and blaze an L just on principle.

Landing Gear is shaping up to be one of the best albums of 2008.

DEVIN THE DUDE - HIGHWAY

Boom Biddy Bye Bye

For some reason this just made itself apparent to me about a decade late. Lauryn Hill on the adlibs and hook, Clef and B Real exchanging some old school storytelling.

CYPRESS HILL FT THE FUGEES - BOOM BIDDY REMIX

The Break Room: Grizzly Bears

Though beating you over the head with hip-hop 24-7 is pretty much what we do best, it gets a little boring after a while for everyone. Like Mick Boogie says: Mix It Up! So now we've got a weekly section called The Break Room to spotlight artists from different genres in the Brooklyn scene...keeping it fresh and local like a farmer's market.

Jumpstarting The Break Room is a new unreleased track from the hazy folk-rock Grizzly Bears, featured recently as openers for Radiohead. This song is the chit. Heads up courtesy of Mr Jacoby Davis.

Here is the above track titled "Two Weeks":

THE GRIZZLY BEARS - TWO WEEKS

Letter To The King

New Game and Nas produced by The Full Clip favorite Hi-Tek. Usually Hi-Tek beats for Aftermath artists sound less soulful and intricate than his previous collabos with Reflection Eternal, but this one is particularly old school. Nas rides this beat smoothly and The Game finally steps out of his name dropping to speak on Dr Martin Luther King.

This sounds like a classic to me.

THE GAME FT NAS - LETTER TO THE KING (PROD HI-TEK)

Jay-Z - Jockin

I said 2 weeks, I meant 24 hours. This is completely insane.

I'm the only rapper getting money in a drought.

JAY-Z - JOCKIN (PROD KANYE WEST)

Say Hello To The Bad Guy, Mad Fly

Wale drops his first release since A Mixtape About Nothing. Ridiculous, as expected. Watch the vector on this cat's career...the graph is going to look like the first slope of Mt Everest.

WALE FT YOUNG CHRIS - WHOLE TIME

Hip-Hop Ya Don't Stop

Things we like:
• Cold Crush
• Rakim w/ Sideburns
• Breakdancing
• Crowds of People Going Buckwild

Things we hate:
• Lima Beans
• FOX
• Hot 97 post-'97
• Diddy

This is, of course, the former.

NY OIL - HIP-HOP YA DON'T STOP

And one more, which is possibly my favorite joint right now:

NY OIL - UNREAL

Who's Next On The West: Bishop Lamont

Dr Dre has found and signed three of the biggest acts of the last century: Eminem, 50 Cent and The Game. Each of these artists have capitalized on Dre's masterful beats and Aftermath promotion, and then moved on to their own massive solo careers.

The newest signee to Aftermath is Bishop Lamont. You be the judge of whether or not he is the second coming. First single off The Reformation.

BISHOP LAMONT - GROW UP (PROD DR DRE)

Shove It

Now this right here is my 2008 summer anthem. Basically M.I.A., but lost in the jungles of Jamaica. Turn this up, throw two fingers in the air, and aimlessly yell "Bong Bong!"

SANTOGOLD - SHOVE IT REMIX